Casualty on a cloud
by Missbooie
Summary: Exploring a number of storylines featuring dead Casualty characters. (Experimental!) Set in the 'next place'.
1. Chapter 1

The steady beeping of a machine had been running through his mind for a while but now everything seemed slightly different- he was semi-aware of someone beside him, gently muttering his name. His eyelids fluttered open to a white room, it looked just like a hospital room back at Holby Hospital. The last thing he remembered was a car crash involving the rest of the staff, Ethan deteriorating, Ash being removed from the wreck and then the heat. The heat that had only lasted a second before he fell into darkness.

'Jeff... Oh my God- your awake!'

Jeff turned his head to where the voice had come from- a young paramedic was sat at his bedside, she had olive skin, dark chocolate eyes and a curly mess of hair that had been scraped into a ponytails she seemed incredibly familiar...

'Polly?!' But the young paramedic was dead- she had been stabbed in the chest years ago by Dylan's mentally unstable patient.

'Yeah- glad to see you remember something. You've had your burns fixed up.' Jeff glanced down his body, he was in a blue hospital gown and still had some dressings on. Burns... 'They fixed me up too' Polly pulled part of her top down, revealing a long scar.

'Where am I Polly? What happened?'

'We call this Holby mark two- this is the next place. Do you remember the minibus? You saved the rest of the team but it exploded and it killed you. That's why you were being treated for your burns.' A tear trickled down the older man's face. He tried to cover it up by smiling but Polly saw through his brave face.

'What happens now?'

'You can continue where you left off. Most of the hospital staff who died now work here. Even if your dead you can die again. We don't know where you go after here.'

'How do you get the technology and supplies?'

'People have been dying for centuries- they work up here and we can use it. Life here is almost parallel to life back when you were alive.'

'Thanks. Can I-' Jeff choked on his tears 'Dixie...'

'We can watch them. Sometimes it gets busy though. Best time to do it is early in the morning- that's when it's easiest to lock onto specific people. I saw your funeral...'

'And?'

'It was lovely. There were so many people. Even Ethan went.'

'Ethan?!'

'Yeah- didn't look too good after it though. You've been missed- even though I missed you I hoped that I wouldn't see you this soon.'

Polly playfully punched Jeff's arm, he faked a wince, playing along with the little game.

'How long have I been de- how long have I been here?'

'Just over 4 months.'

There was silence.

'How do things work around here then?'

'Well if you want you can join the ambulance crew. It's me and some others but I don't think you met them.'

'And what actually happens- who gets here?'

'Like I said we all live here- it's rather surreal I know. I still don't know everything and I've been here years. We don't tend to get many young children unless they have family waiting or they come with family. I don't know why. Oh and if you are executed rightly due to an offence you committed then you don't end up here either.'

'Can you show me around the department?'

'Yeah- let me just get the doctor to check you over first.'

Polly stood up and leant out the door, a young nurse with a mass of curly dark hair was stood in the corridor.

'Hi Polly- you okay?'

'Yeah thanks Anna- Jeff Collier has woken up and wants to look around the department. Do you know where Patrick is?'

'Yeah I'll just go grab him- one sec.' She bustled down the corridor and returned seconds later with a tall doctor.

'Hello Jeff- I'm Dr Patrick Spiller and this is Anna Paul. I'm happy for you to go around the department. You were due to be at work 2 months ago. Anna will get your uniform.'

Patrick turned and left leaving Jeff with the two ladies.

'One other thing you should know- any injuries you acquired 24 hours before you died cannot be treated here.' Polly gave Anna a sad smile.

'I lost both my legs in a train crash- they were a mess. I died a day or two later. I can't quite remember.'

Everyone was talking about their death so freely- it just felt wrong.

'Patrick is a grumpy sod. He was when he was alive and he still is. He died of an inter-cranial bleed. Just after he proposed to his girlfriend, and a little while after he had been involved in a major RTC. He died on the verge of heroism.'

Anna had answered the question without it even leaving his lips. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all...


	2. Chapter 2

'Ready?'

'Yep.'

Polly walked into the room where Jeff was now stood in his paramedic uniform. It was the same as the uniform he had worn before- well before everything that happened. The two paramedics walked around the department- Polly introducing Jeff to everyone. It seemed strange, the sheer amount of people working in the hospital. Jeff was growing accustomed to the way that people introduced themselves- they said their name, their job, how long they'd been here and how they died. Everyone had accepted that they had died. No one tiptoed around the subject.

'Hi Polly.'

'Oh hi Jack. Jack this is Jeff- Jeff, Jack.' The two men shook hands.

'I'm the receptionist. I'm guessing you're the new paramedic- the one from the minibus explosion.'

'Yeah- that's me. So what happened to you?'

'Basically my fiancé was kidnapped on our wedding day by some people my dad owed money to, she was taken into a barge in the river. I went to rescue her and got myself shot in the knee cap. Then they soaked the boat in fuel and set it alight. My fiancé- Nikki managed to swim to safety. The boat exploded with me still on it.'

'Sorry.'

'Nah-don't apologise. It happened. It's the past. Hey- we're explosion buddies.' The receptionist laughed at his own joke. No one else found it particularly funny. Polly glanced at her watch- nearly time to be at the ambulance station.

'We should be going Jeff. I'll show you to the ambulance depot.'

'Thanks. Who are the other paramedics?'

'Well obviously me, erm, Finn, Woody, Sandra and Curtis. There were a couple of others but they didn't stay here- I never met them they left long before I joined the team.'

'Yeah- Curtis? Didn't he jump off the roof trying to save Alice?'

Polly nodded,

'We both went to his funeral. He was the only one who had previously met me. I didn't really remember much of how I died. No one else had the heart to tell me.'

There was silence between the old friends

'What are the others like?'

'Well I get on great with Sandra- she's been here the longest and is basically in charge. Woody's a great laugh- especially with Finn. But you'll meet them all soon enough!'

Polly laughed as she led Jeff through the streets of Holby. Everything was eerily similar but at the same time slightly off. His confusion must have shown on his face as Polly then said

'I know- everything is so strange and similar. I'm still not letting you drive though!'

Polly's gently humour relaxed him as he walked into the ambulance depot to see four people waiting for him.

'Jeff! How are you mate?' Curtis rushed over to greet his friend and former colleague.

'Other than the obvious I'm okay thanks.' Curtis went back to his seat and sipped his coffee. The paramedics were silent

'This is Jeff Collier- paramedic. Arrived here ages ago but only just decided to move his backside!'

'Hi Jeff' the paramedics chorused.

'I'm Sandra Mute.' The older woman walked over to shake his hand. 'So I've been here for as long as I can remember. I was one of Holby's first female paramedics but I was stabbed in the chest in the back of my ambulance by a certain drunk patient.' Her voice was gentle but harsh and accusing at the same time. Clearly there were things she wanted to do but never got the chance.

One by one the other paramedics introduced themselves, each saying their name and how they died. Finn had been murdered- he still didn't know the entire story but he did know who it was that killed him. Karl, his murderer, had arrived around a week after he had after committing suicide. He was in police custody for what he did. The most impressive story was Paul who preferred to be called Woody- he had been caught in a tunnel explosion with some toxic fumes. He took the toxic canister away from the other people in the tunnel. The toxic fumes killed him when he got to Holby.

The paramedics waited for any calls to come in. Something Jeff wasn't sure how it would work. How could someone die if they were already dead? Polly tried to explain to him that you were dead but now you're alive again but not in the same place.


	3. Chapter 3

Polly and Jeff dropped off their patient to a grumpy Patrick.

'I don't understand why he's so annoyed at everyone- the love of his life is here.'

'What?'

'Oh- Patrick had a bit of an affair with a police woman- Rachel. She died around two years before he did. But then he fell in love with a doctor Lara Stone. He proposed not long before he died.'

'Right.' Jeff felt reluctant to talk. Every time he started to talk to Polly the conversation always gravitated towards death, a concept he was still uncomfortable and unfamiliar with. He worked the rest of his shift in awkward silence.

Home. It was just as he left it. It really was an incredible match. He lay alone in his bed and sobbed. He cried for the friends he left behind, for the family, for his life. He would never be able to play with little Abs again, wouldn't be able to tell Tamsin just how much he loved her, never would be able to call her his wife. He cried for what could have and what should have been.

As he fell into a deep sleep he saw Dixie. She too had been crying, her eyes were red and swollen. Neither said a word but both reached out for an embrace. It felt so right, like it was never going to end, like it never should end.

But it had too- it always would.

Jeff awoke in his bed, a photo clutched close to his chest. He pulled it away from his chest- it was the photo from a couple of summers ago- he was pouting and Dixie was laughing. It was one of his happiest memories, but remembering it made him miss her even more and only saddened him further.

Dixie awoke in her bed, she too had the same photo clutched to her chest. For a moment she thought that he was still alive. He was here. He would always be there. It took seconds. Seconds for the world to tumble yet she could still feel his strong arms around her, his warm breath tickling her ear.

Yes maybe it was just a dream but it was a dream that connected the dead and the living. It was beautiful.


	4. Chapter 4

'Jeff- you're late. Call me.'

It was the fifth voice mail she had left that morning. It wasn't usual for Jeff to be late- he had been arriving promptly and was settling in great with the other paramedics but he still found the concept of his death hard to deal with.

'Morning princess.'

'Oh God- Jeff you look terrible.'

Poly was right- he did look terrible, his skin was gaunt and pale, clinging to his face and eye sockets causing large shadows to overwhelm his face. His eyes were red and bloodshot, his face seemed even more stubbly than the day before.

'What happened?'

'It's nothing, you know.'

Polly touched his arm

'Jeff- what is it?' Her voice was soft and gentle but the words caused him to use all his strength not to let the tears fall.

'It just goes on and on. Never ending. I see the car blow up. I see Dixie scream. I watch as her heart breaks. I watch Tamzin fight and then shatter. It's horrific. I see Ethan too. He crashes. Cal saves him. Cal weeps for his brother. His brother barely lives. Why won't it stop?' Tears were streaming down his face- after all these years he had finally broken, the weight too much to bear alone.

'Jeff. Jeff- it's alright. It's the same for all of us. It goes eventually but you can take something to make them less prominent in your mind.'

'Okay.'

'Look- have today off. Go to the ED and find Patrick or Anna.'

'Thanks Polly.'

'That's perfectly fine.' She hugged him tightly before sending him on his way. She smiled and waved as he looked over his shoulder before he disappeared around the corner. As soon as he was out of sight the smile fell off her face. His confession had triggered something inside her. She felt pain, intense pain in her stomach before she collapsed and lay still as her mind fought back.

Hannah was stood there waiting, facing away from her. She turned her over and felt the knife plunge into her chest. Immediately she knew. She just knew. This was the end.

Her body doubled over, she couldn't say anything. It was too shocking, too painful, too terrible. Hannah was smiling, laughing almost. Then the room started to spin, her legs buckled beneath her and she crumpled to the floor. She felt her arms being pulled, being dragged through rooms and corridors. Then it stopped. A door slammed shut and the sound of a bolt being pulled across echoed through her head. For seconds it was silent, then the sound of heavy breathing. It certainly wasn't human. Panic raced through her veins but she couldn't move, she was paralysed in fear and pain. A familiar nuzzle in the nook of her neck calmed her, the warmth and love that could only belong to a dog. As the dog came into eye line she recognised it as Dylan's dog. Dylan- the idiot who had got her here in the first place, currently blissfully unaware of her situation.

Time passed, painfully slowly, she knew she was still bleeding out but couldn't do anything about it. The dog was near useless, just managing to remind her that she was still alive. Then a banging at the door, rattling of the handle. Then he was there. Jay, beautiful Jay. He seemed even more scared than she felt. He took off his scrub top and pressed it to her chest. It was no use- they both knew she had lost too much blood. Then he left, only to return moments later and continue talking to her. His words were blurring together, his face becoming a blur of colours. Then she was lifted, by more hands. Then more voices, barely recognisable but their faces were. Dixie and Jeff. Both saying it would be alright- there words and their faces said entirely different stories. The corridor was blurring, lights became too bright, the air was too cold, burning her lungs. Voices began to fade, her vision went dark, then, finally, she lost all sensation except for a gentle throbbing pain.

Then nothing. Peace. Death.

She awoke with face peering into hers. Her face was warm and damp from her sweat and tears. Sandra helped her to her feet before wrapping her in a tight embrace.

'Okay Polly, okay. I'm here. It's alright. You're safe now.'

'I miss him.' She choked on the words as they mixed with fresh tears

'I know you do. We can look for him later.'

'No. I can't. He is married with a family. I loved Jay. It didn't work. I died. He lived. It's as simple as that.'

'Nothing is simple- ever. Remember that.'


End file.
